Justice Clarence Thomas, speaking Thursday at an event hosted by The Law Library of Congress and the Supreme Court Fellows Program. Image via YouTube

The “myth-making” surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court and its justices is one of the worst aspects of the job, said Justice Clarence Thomas during an appearance Thursday at the Library of Congress.

“There's a real, decided difference between what is said about judging and what actually happens,” Thomas said in response to a question about the best and worst parts of his job. “We don't have the time, energy, ink or bites to change or to engage in that narrative. We have work to do. We have to write opinions.”

In reactions to some of those opinions, Thomas said, people will say the justices hate old people, or want to execute people. “I haven't met a judge who wants to execute people. Everyone of us is asking, 'Did I get it right? Did I make a mistake?' And yet people think you're callous.”

Thomas has been accused of callousness and cruelty for dissents in some death cases in which a majority of justices found constitutional errors.

Thomas was in conversation with Judge Gregory Maggs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. The Law Library of Congress and the Supreme Court Fellows Program hosted the event.

The “loss of anonymity” that came with confirmation was another downside to the job, Thomas said. “I don't like the public part,” said Thomas, describing himself as an introvert. But, he added, “That's part of the job.” He called Susan Cain's book “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking” one of “the best.”

Thomas described interacting with “my kids”—his law clerks—the best part of being a justice. Thomas stands alone among his colleagues for his efforts to look to beyond Ivy League law schools for some of his clerk hires. Maggs was a 1991-1992 Thomas law clerk.

Thomas spoke briefly about the Senate confirmation process, comparing it to “surgery” and a “spectacle.” The process is not what it ought to be, he said. “This is not the Roman Colosseum. We're not gladiators,” he said.

“We are going to at some point to have the leadership we deserve because we allow the selection process to get out of our control and to have very little to do with selecting the kind of people we need.” He said he does not have “bitter feelings” about his own controversial and narrow confirmation but “I think I am sober in my judgment of it.”

Maggs spent time quizzing the justice about his childhood and education and ended by asking what had changed in his judging over the 27 years he has been on the high court. Thomas compared it to the view of someone on a mountain at 1,000 feet, 5,000 feet and 10,000 feet.

At 10,000 feet, he said, “You see more. I've been doing this so long, I see more; I understand more. Not because you're smarter; it's just that you've been doing it longer. This is what I do. I don't have hobbies, except rooting against Alabama—they stole another national championship! I do law. It consumes you, and virtually everything I do is in preparation of doing this job.”

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